1987 BMW 325 NASA GT2 refresh, from a dust collector to a runner.

Now that everything is set, dry and cured it looks like we are ready to move on to the next phase of the project.

The fasteners at the overlap of the seams are button heads with nylocks, that with the glue should mean one and done.

The sheet metal bracket at the rear, in front of the gas tank, worked out to be 4 inches of vertical and 1 inch under the patch. The overlap of metal on the underside of the tunnel seam is 4 inches.

The existing fire system is out of date.  To drive the car at events it will be replaced with a current spec system and relocated to provide room for a passenger seat.  The BMWCCA events I will be driving in with the car require an instructor riding along.  That, and being able to offer "ride a longs" at our local auto cross will be a plus.  So if you look closely at the next picture you can just make out the factory mounting points that will offer the starting point for the next part of this project.

Nice work on the floor. My only e30 was made up of more rust than sheet metal, it looks so satisfying to work on one that's not trying to disintegrate beneath you!

In the new year I made my self a promise of getting this car on a real race track.  That quest is getting closer to reality, but first the last outing in the car at Qual Comm driving at a BMWCCA autocross that provided some seat time and more items for the never ending check list of mechanical things to fix or replace, was in order. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmd39lqGhcY

Driving to San Diego for these events is a commitment of time, resources and yes, money.  They are a work/run event that eats up the whole day for a very limited amount of seat time.  But, I willing do these to get my but in this car and drive it at speed.  On a surface that has seen better days over elevation changes that I will not likely drive on any current race track.  But it exposes the issues that would be lurking at the future events I hope to drive the car at in the future.  After this event, my list included getting the front and rear calipers rebuilt.

The last tech sticker on the car is from a 2010 NASA event.  My goal of getting the car on a track includes driving it at Buttonwillow, in the Central Valley of California.  To that end I am taking my self back to school.  In this case a BMWCCA Race School so I can drive my car at speed in an event, if I in fact choose to compete with this car.  For this school I will be driving a car with two seats.

Yes, I have enjoyed driving this car at previous events and this is a shot of me behind the wheel this last January at a VARA-U class.  I get to enjoy it as a development driver, more on that later.

Back to the E30, one more thing on my list included new wheel studs and lug nuts.  Looking back to the pictures of the condition of the rear brake shoes, that also have been changed, I could not help thinking of  only having 4 studs per wheel and the corrosion I can see on the threads.  The picture of the M Coupe is one of the car coming out of "Sunset" onto the front straight.  I would like to confirm that the tires on my E30 stay on the car though this and all of the corners on this track.  And yes, I was able to keep the Tesla and the Vet behind me going into "Sunrise".  Having a supercharged S50 helps.

I have concluded that Auto Crossing is a great place to learn about my old race car.    

I have 8 weeks, until I get to drive the car at 2 events in 1 week.  One "open"track day and then a weekend event that is more an old school flat stage high speed autocross.

First, fluids. Break fluid flush and replace, engine oil/filter and differential, then transmission. These are not that used but it has been two years from the last change. The engine has distilled water with water wetter, ready to go.

I did complete the replacement of the wheel studs and rebuild of the calipers.  The rear pads and hand brake shoes are fresh, a fresh set of fronts are on my list.  I will spring for a fresh set of tires, but I have no plan to set the world on fire with the car and will limit my self to a new set of 200tw's for the weeks events.  

I am sure I will find additional items to "fix".  Every time I load up for an event, I find something.

The rims and tires on the car are only used to load the car on the trailer.  They help keep the exhaust system in place as I am driving up the loading ramps.  I think this was lesson 5, on an attempt to get to a previous event.

Then there was this event that I learned that the little green "croissants" of plastic on my trailer were pieces of the crystallized rear sub frame bushings. I now understand why the car was a bit "squirrelie" at speed out on track.

Drive and learn.  That is the goal!

Wow, thats a beautiful shot!

This is from the Lone Pine Time Trials at the Manzanar Air strip just north of Lone Pine, CA, facing north.  It was snowing at the peaks and we were waring shorts at the valley floor.  Just a normal event in California on a May weekend.  

This is the year of the 50th running of the event, info on  motorsportreg.com

The plans for earlier in the year, did not work out as to getting the car to an event.  But that may change going into the end of the year.  I have a local SCCA practice next Saturday that should net 12 to 16 runs over the event, or more if I bring two sets of tires.  I have two sets of now very old 200tw, or softer, tires that need to be corded before the track day I will be attending in December.

The following weekend, this month, I am also trying to make a PCA practice that should complete the reduction of my tires to "used up"status.  Running the gas in the car to the point I get to put fresh fuel in the tank is another goal.  I have no idea what vintage my tank is filed with, I do get to dive the car around the storage facility but only to idle it agound.  But today I did get  one of my "must get it done" off my list.

The 'G-LOC" breaks are on the car.  I did have a conversation with Danny and with his guidence I have a pad that will work with the car at the events on my list going forward. I will add ducts to the front end before evemt at the end of the year, per his suggestion.  And the fresh fluids and....

Three years.  I just made my self review the date I started down this path. Time moves quickly. Sometimes.

Note to self; remember all of the keys that will be needed to unlock the security devices to use your trailer. 

Not to mention be very flexible with the availability of the rental truck that you need to tow your car to an event.  Getting a call at 2:00 instead of 11:00, on Friday in Southern California, will work it self out.  But only having access to the interior of the storage facility until 6:00 add just a little extra pressure to get every thing loaded.  Having to make that extra round trip to grab the keys only adds drama and stress. On the roads of Southern California on a Friday afternoon.

But Saturday morning was glorious.

I got lots of seat time.  The car is running great. Having the car at an event is fantastic.

Remembering to air up the trailer tires last night in the dark, beyond priceless!

Ok, the details on the truck rental;

Charged for one day, driven for 177 miles and I did buy the insurance for the truck, total was $121.29 and just under a half a tank of gas.

To day was another practice, but different in a number of ways.  I still have to rent a truck, nothing new there but driving something that has a trailer towing transmission feature makes me no longer pining for a truck with a stick.  Averaging almost 15 mpg loaded was a positive.

What made today unique was the format that limited the entries to less than 35 participants.  The practice was organized as a run only, no work event. I came prepared with two sets of older tires and they are now done, but for different reasons.

The RE-71's, 205 50/15's are accent and they still hold air but no longer capable to keep up with the car. The staggered set of Kumho 710's proved a number of things on this occasion. First, my car wants a square set up.  The under steer with different sized tires even with tires pressure adjustments was more than could be  worked around.  Yes these were also very old, but had been stored correctly prior to being used.

So, what to do next.  Normally I run a practice much like an event, no more than four runs and then park it.  Yes I may get 12 runs over the day but trying to space them like an event gives me a workable base line.  To day was insightful based on how hot I could get the car and how it reacted.  I got 12 runs in the morning, changed tires and ran again after lunch.  Driving on the staggered set in the afternoon was not helping do anything useful.  It did accomplish the entertainment of the crowed, but my times did not provide a workable benchmark.

One thing that I did learn was I need to upgrade the transmission fluid, time to make a call to Red Line for a suggestion.  I can confirm the their Water Wetter and distilled water combination did their job with no issues.

The continuing list of "little things" that keep coming up on this car is one item, shorter. Scrolling up, from some previous posts, you will find that the wheels used to get the car up and down the ramps onto the trailer might have short lug nut studs.    

The back end of the car is just ok.  The 17mm nuts seem to be flush with the studs, on the rears.  The fronts, with the wheel spacers in still on the car, provide just a couple of turns before they snug up on the rims.  Now the rims that events tires on, have high lighted that this is not an acceptable solution.  One set of rimes are the old school Kosei, they are not the issue.  They are 15 X 7, ET25 and are now mounted with a set of 225/45 R 15 Rival S that will soon be turned to tire dust.  No the D-Force rims of the same size and off set have a much thicker center hub.

Ok, the rears.  Marginal at best.

This is not good, for a number of obvious reasons.

Yes, it all looks correct.  But getting to this point offers a teachable moment.  The shinny and short studs have a way to install and tighten them.  That would be with an allen wrench, that requires you buy the odd size these are made to. Then when you go to remove them, now what.  They are happy and tight at home in the hubs that keep the tires in place.

Putting the first tire back on the car and putting it back on the ground, you take advantage of gravity. One stud at a time. Carefully threading the longer stud in place and the the fun beguines. Getting them to seat.  I worked out a system of double nutting them and it worked.  Yes. I am prepared to do it again when the event tires are installed.

Yep, one thing off the list.

It has been a while.  Now an update.  The storage facility that I had been willing sending money to on a monthly basis, was closed.  Turns out the owner's interpretation of building codes and the fire department did not lign up.

Having to move was not going to be fun, but I needed to purge some stuff and this did give me an opportunity to find things.  I did get the opportunity to really work the 2005 Dodge Ram Diesel 4X4 purchased last year.  Moving the E30 was one of the many trips needed to move to the new location. Funny thing, a few of my vehicles that had normally started and run before this forced move might now have issue.

The E30 has always started, in the past.  In fact it started up and was driven onto the trailer, then started when it arrived at it's new home.  But now that I am scheduled for an event at the end of the month, no joy.  That sound when I turn the key,  right before I twist a little farther to engage the starter, is missing.  No fuel pump. I know it could be the relay or it might be the in tank pump  To be prudent I even ordered a fuel filter.  Only issue, they moved the relay.  When the M50 motor was installed in my E30 they moved somethings out of the engine bay. In an attempt to clean up the wiring under the hood they moved it.  Probably had the dash out at that time, when they were installing the roll cage. And the race seat was not in the car, or the fire system.

Once again, if you did not build it you still will need to find things.  Yep, you will.

Rent a car for an event in January of 2024 or get off my "     " and finish getting it ready to run an event.

It's easy to not have choices, really.  I might be spending the same amount of money. How?

First, my truck ate it's fuel pump.  It's a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel 4X4.  That and brakes will eat up most of the race car rental budget. Then the trailer should get fresh tires, wheel bearings and wiring that works.  That and brakes for the trailer make sense, you think.

The car, the fuel pump or the pump relay is now causing an issue.  But I already have their replacements.  I do need to find were they relocated the relay.  I believe it is now under the dash, just have to remove the drivers seat to have room to work around the cage.

There are/ is a never ending list of things that would be the same wether I rent or drag a car.  I'm grateful this keeps me from wasting time being unproductive at work.

Yep, renting a car might be the easy way, but not going to happen.

One more project is back in the rotation, to be fixed.  Could be the fuel pump, or the relay? Time to find the issue and get ready for Lone Pine.

The fuel pump,  and removing gallons  of old stale gas.  This car might be ready...

I picked up the car, indeed the pump was bad.  The fuel filter was heavy with parts the where once attached the the pump.  These cars, having saddle tanks , that provide easy access to drain bad gas and bits of plastic from both sides of the tank.

Finally, the car is ready to turn some laps.  Fresh tires are next.

I know I have had a lot going on in my life,  some things I think I control, lots that have fully controlled me.  But somewhere in the not to recent past, I must have worked this to a conclusion.  The tire question.

Having a number of sometime driveable cars that use the same size consumable components, tires, gives one options, Yes?  The build code on the tires is late 2021.  Tirerack is selling NOS 2020 tires, at discount today.  Their storage is better than mine, again Yes,

Again, one old BMW might have a wheel/rim offset that another old BMW can not use,  if you have an E21 you are aware of the ET 17 offset issue.  That 2002 and E30 drivers never have to deal with.  But at one time Kosei did make 15X7 rims for both applications.  

Before our local autocross seen lost Fontana as its home base, I put a fresh set of Falken 660's on the E21.  I ran them at one last event and then my world got busy.  But I must have realized that these tires where destined for life on an other car.

I paid to have them dismounted from the E21 off set and remounted on the Kosei's of the E30, off set and set them next to the then non running, fuel pump as it turned out, car.  

How I ended up with only 6 of each off set,  that is a story for another day.

This last weekend, I was back at Lone Pine for the event that you should make the effort to attend.  The location is amazing.  The track is on an old surface.  It is slippery and very dusty.  You might be grabbing forth.  It is very fast and will test you and your resolve.

It is a four hour pull, one way,to the event. Highway 395 is a drive on a two lane, old school road into a world much less traveled.

During the parade laps,  that will to get you used to the layout of the track, it is all most two miles and help remove the tumble weeds.  My car was running great.  On my  first timed lap, things went sideways, I had a fuel leak into the car. I did pull the inspection pannel covering the pump and did find a failed hose clamp.  Before my run group was done I did find a replacement, other racers rule during an event!  Getting lined up for my second run, I did smell gas but yes I was in denial.

I had not fixed the true issue, On Monday I did, for just under $13 dollars in parts it is solved.  The reused O-ring gasket had failed.  A new one,at the fuel pump at the gas tank is in place.  And a small section off fuel hose and two new hose clamps have been added.

I picked up a nail in a 10 year old trailer tire, now I have four new ones.  This was a trip that did require that when things go sideways, you will end up spending money to fix them.

But next weekend, is Laguna Seca!  Growing up on the Peninsula, not having any money.  Getting to drive this track gives me goosebumps.  This  will be my third bite at this apple.  My second on the new surface.  This is going to be, epic!

Yes, any time at Laguna is epic; my favorite track in a car, on motorcycles and not so much on bicycle (the hill between 5 and 6 is STEEP!). Have a ball!

This is a bump on my journey both on the build and my time at Lone Pine.

Both have been a learning curve, yes!

David